Soul Eater After
by Mobes13
Summary: I wrote this fan fic before I finished the Manga. So there are a few points that don't match up, but over all, I think I made it fit. The story follows new students and the kids of the known characters. This is the first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Death Weapon Meister Academy, the DWMA… A place where meisters and weapons come to train. The weapons are people who transform into them and the meisters are the warriors who wield them. This school trains students to hunt down the evil humans in the world so they don't turn into kishin.

A new class of students have gathered out at the entrance of the school. Two of their teachers stood in front of them. "Alright everyone! Listen up. I AM THE GREAT BLACK STAR! I'll be your battle instructor. This is Tsubaki, she will be your nurse. At least for anyone who gets beat up too badly." Black Star lets out a laugh as Tsubaki shakes her head. "Ok. Today is just for getting to know your fellow class mates and hopefully finding your partner that you will work with throughout your school years and most likely longer than that." Black Star looks into Tsubaki's eyes with a smile. Without looking away, he adds, "So choose wisely."

After a little while, Tsubaki notices a boy who showed up late. She walks up to him and tells him, "You're late. Everyone has started already. Go meet with them and find a partner." She gives him a smile as he nods and hurries along.

Black Star walks up behind her and says, "Almost everyone has picked a partner. Showing up late might mean he's missed his better half."

"I don't think so. There is always a reason for these things." Tsubaki tells him.

At a quick glance, the boy thinks to himself, ' **Looks like there's not many people left to pair up with. I'm a meister and I'm not very good when it comes to talking to people**.' Looking around, he sees a girl sitting by herself against the wall.

She was looking down, letting her shoulder length, dark brown hair fall over her face. He gave her a look up and down, taking in her outfit. She had on a white vest with a few buttons keeping it closed over a red, short sleeve blouse. She sat with her legs bent under her witch drew his eyes to the red skirt that came down to her knees and the white stockings that went up over her knees. As he got closer, she moved and he noticed the tag on her shirt, weapon.

' **How lucky would I be if she wanted to be my partner. I'm surprised a cute girl like her hasn't found a partner yet. Maybe she did and she's waiting for him to come back**.' He stopped a few feet away from her and asked, "Hello there. Have you found a partner yet?"

' **Great, just great. It's another year of meisters and weapons partnering up for school. And now another meister is picking someone within ear shoot of me. Why can't it end**?' The girl moans internally to herself as she puts her face into her hands, rubbing her temples in frustration at the whole situation.

"Shy? Is that why you're all by your self?" The boy asked.

' **Please go away**.'

Just then a girl and a boy walked past saying, "Great, we have a crazy meister in our class."

"No one is crazier than you." The boy with her answered as they continued on their way.

This got her to look up and see a boy who was watching the pair walk away with a confused look on his face. She took in his black jeans, to the plain blue tee shirt with some simple design on it, to the short light brown hair cut, leaving almost nothing on the sides and a little longer on the top. He shook his head and said, "Wonder who they're talking about?" He turns back to look in her direction. "So, whats your name?"

She stares right into the meister's light blue eyes. ' **No way. Did someone sit down next to me**?' All of a sudden, she jumps to her feet and looks behind her. ' **No one** …' She slowly looks back at him to find him watching her with interest.

"So, whats your name?" He asked again with a smile.

"Riko…" It came out of her mouth as a whisper. ' **He can see me** … **He's talking to me** …' Riko's eyes widen with the realization of what was happening.

"Riko. I'm Warren and a meister. Would you like to be partners?" Warren held his hand out to shake hers.

"Y... y... yes." She slowly reaches out with a trembling hand to shake his hand while thinking, 'I **s this going to work**?' As their hands meet, it was a solid hand shake. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Well, hiding in the shadows of the building, did you not want to be picked by someone?"

"No one has ever seen or talked to me before." She said with a shy grin on her face. A puzzled look was all she got back from her partner.

A girl is practically running down the schools hallways. ' **Where the hell did he run off too**?' She steps out the front doors to look around the entry way where just a few hours ago, everyone was picking partners. ' **Not here. Where** …' Her thought process was stopped by a one sided conversation coming from around the corner.

"Really? I don't understand how this is all possible? How is this going to work? We should go to one of the teachers. Maybe we can go see Lord Death himself. Someone must know something." Whoever was doing the talking, was pausing between the questions, listening like they could hear the answers that weren't there.

As she rounded the corner, she finds the boy she made fun of earlier for talking to himself. "What are you doing?" she asks him. He jumped at the sudden noise that he wasn't expecting. Blinking his eyes as he turned around to face her. ' **Why does it look like I just interrupted a conversation he was having**?' He looked back to his side, then back to her. "What? Didn't find a partner and now trying to figure out what to do?"

"No, I have a partner." Warren answered her. Looking over this girl, he remembered her waist long black hair tied into a pony tail and the cream colored outfit with the shirt that's cut off at the shoulders to show off a pentagram star mark on her left shoulder. She was the one making comments about a crazy meister. At the time, he didn't know she was talking about him.

' **Right? This guy is so crazy. He's talking to himself again. Did he really find a partner? Hell, my dad did. I guess it's possible.** ' She was about to say more, when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"You've been looking for me?" This guy looked past her and over to Warren. "People call me Hunter, and you are?" This guy was in black pants and a black long sleeve dress shirt. His hair was a longer than Warren's and was a light blond color.

"I'm Warren and this is…" Warren looked over to where Riko was standing and watching.

"And you're the one that's worried about everyone thinking you're nuts. Telling them you talk to ghosts probably won't help your case either. Besides, you look like you're going to be attending your own hanging." Riko commented. Of course Warren was the only one that could hear her.

"Knowing my partner here, she probably didn't tell you her name. She just started asking questions." Hunter said. Warren turned his attention back to them. "That's so not cool, Hideko. So Warren, I would like you to meet Hideko. And where is your partner? If you don't mind me asking."

"Um, she's not here at the moment as you can see." With a quick glance at Riko, Warren added, "Her name is Riko."

Hideko made fists with her arms straight at her sides and looked like she was going to hit someone. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you Warren, but Hunter's mom is looking for him. We need to get going." Hideko grabbed Hunter's arm and started to drag him away.

As they moved away, they heard Warren say, "Sorry about that."

As Hideko dragged Hunter down the hall ways, she asked, "Alright, what do you think? Is it just me or is he just crazy?"

"Well… Do you remember the stories our parents told us?" Hideko nodded without slowing the pace. Hunter continued, "What if he's another meister like that Chrona and the weapon Ragnarok. We should ask my mom. She dealt with Chrona. She would know if something like that has shown up again."

Later that day, Warren and Riko were walking out of a shop. Riko's eyes couldn't take everything in fast enough. "I can't remember the last time I left the school."

"Really? So did you ever try to leave?" Warren asked as he sat on a bench to eat the meal he just got.

"Actually, no. I never thought about it till now."

"Huh. Well, after I eat, we need to find a place to test out your weapon mode. You know, since you're a ghost after all. I don't know how this is going to work. Or if this is going to work out?"

"I told you, I was cursed a long time ago. And I had given up hope that I would be freed from it. Your the only person to see and hear me since the day it happened. It has to be you that will free me from my curse."

"People will think I'm nuts. That Hideko girl was following me all around the school already."

"Maybe she likes you?" Riko smiled at Warren and gave him a wink.

"I don't think so. She was talking about me being the crazy one in our class. I don't know why she finds me that interesting. I mean, even if I was just talking to myself, what difference would it make to her? Maybe she thinks she'll get me kicked out of the school if everyone thinks I'm crazy." Warren looked up to find Riko pacing back and forth in front of him. "Is there something wrong?"

"You said we need a place to train."

' **I don't think she heard a thing I was saying**.' Warren was finishing his food before saying, "Yeah, before the first day of school tomorrow. We need to know if I can hold you in weapon form and if I am able to use you against anything."

"We did shake hands. So you should be able to wield me."

"The problem is you being a ghost. What's a ghost weapon going to do to anyone if it can't hit anything?" Warren let out a laugh. "By the way, what kind of weapon are you? I've been so focused on the ghost thing, I didn't even think about it."

"I'm an ax type." She stopped walking, turned to face Warren, crossed her arms, and very proudly said, "Dual hatchets. My whole family has been ax types."

Warren smiled at her. "How long have you been at the school?"

"Since it opened."

"Do you remember much of it? Before you were a ghost I mean."

"I haven't given it much thought." Riko sat down next to Warren. "I do remember my partner. She was my best friend. We grew up together and planned to be partners ever since we learned the school was going to open. It wasn't meant to be in the end. Our first mission was supposed to be an easy one, but ended up being the end." Tears came to her eyes as she was remembering the past. "We ran into a witch. I don't know if it was just bad luck, but she was behind the trouble of the mission. There wasn't much fighting. We took out a few kishins before we ran into the her. She used her magic and cursed me before anything could happen. My partner got away safely. I don't remember much of what happened at that moment, but the next thing I knew, I was in the school's hospital. No one could hear me or see me while I watched them look over Juliane. I was going crazy as I followed everyone into Lord Death's office. Juliane was telling him everything that happened. She gave every detail of the curse that she could. She was sent home soon after and I never saw her again. Then the days started to blend together. I…"

"Excuse me. You're Warren, correct?" A girl walked in front of him.

Warren looked up at a blond haired girl, who's hair came down to her lower back. She wore a white button up blouse with a black jacket, kept open, over it. She also wore a black skirt with white vertical lines in it that came down to just above the knees and had her outfit topped off with white and black striped knee high stockings. When Warren looked up into her eyes, the greenest eyes he ever saw, she looked like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"Yes I am."

"You looked like you were deep in thought. I hope I'm not bothering you." Then this new girl sat down next to Warren, going right through Riko.

"How rude." Riko said as she stood up out of the girl and went to stand in front of the two of them.

Warren let out a laugh as the girl shivered. "What? Did I do something funny?"

"No, no. It wasn't you." Warren happened to notice an evil, angry glare from Riko. It was directed at him, not the new girl.

The girl arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, I'm Satomi. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Go ahead." Warren looked from Satomi to Riko. Behind Riko, he thought he saw someone duck into a shop. They were moving to quick, like they didn't want to be seen.

"Do you have a partner yet? I saw you by yourself after everyone left. It's ok if you don't have one yet. I can introduce you to my mom and dad. They know Lord Death. I'm sure he can help you if you didn't find a partner today."

"It's ok. I have a partner." Warren again locked eyes with Riko and they traded smiles.

"Oh, I just thought… Um… well…"

"By any chance, did Hideko put you up to this?"

"To be honest, she asked me to talk to you."

Just then, Hideko jumped out of, what seemed to be thin air, and yelled, "Satomi! What are you doing? This wasn't the plan." With the yelling, it attracted two more people. Hunter and another girl walked up to them. "That's it. I want to fight you." She pointed her finger right in Warren's Face. "I'm going to find out your deal."

"Hideko, his partner isn't here to fight." Satomi said. As she looked at Warren, she noticed the distant look in his eyes. As if he was listening to someone that wasn't there. "You don't really want to fight him here?"

"This would be a perfect chance to test it." Riko was saying to Warren. "Just be prepared to run." Riko was laughing over the other girls.

"Hunter, let's go." With that, Hideko turned into her weapon. It seemed to happen in a instant, but in slow motion at the same time. She slowly faded away into a white light that shifted into a katana. That white light became a real sword in Hunter's hand. "What are you waiting for? Let's show him what we can do." Hideko's voice was coming from the sword itself.

"Quick, Warren, use me for now. There's no stopping her once she gets going." Satomi said.

"No thanks. I have it covered." Warren stood up off the bench as Hunter started to come at him while he was still sitting on the bench.

"Sorry Warren, when the two of them get to fighting… Well, they both act like their fathers." Satomi called out.

"Hey Satomi, do you want to be next?" Hunter said.

Hunter turned, swinging the katana at the center of Warren's body. Warren yelled out, "Riko, now!"

Only Warren could see Riko slowly morph into the hatchets, one in each hand. In a split second, the hatchet in Warren's right hand, caught the katana in a block. Then Warren swung the hatchet in his left hand at Hunter. Hunter had to jump backwards out of the way of the swing. A brief pause showed everyone staring at Warren in shock. Warren stood there with two weapons.

"Interesting." Hunter said as he smiled and rushed forward again. After trading some blows back and forth, Hunter brought the katana down over his head and Warren caught the blow with both of the hatchets. Warren pressed on in the hold, just as he brought his right leg up. His knee hit Hunter's hands and sent Hideko flying into the air. Hunter jumped back again to dodge a sweeping blow.

"Stop it!" Satomi was shouting at them.

Before Hideko's spinning blade came falling down, Warren was already in the process of throwing the hatchet from his right hand. It went sailing through the air end over end, headed right for Hunter's head. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Warren watched the ax get closer and closer. Right before it would have hit Hunter, Warren dropped the ax from his left hand knowing that Riko's hatchet would become her ghost form if he wasn't in contact with her. Both of the axes vanished in an instant as soon as the hatchets were out of his hands. Riko changed back out of her weapon form right next to Warren just a second after he let go of her hatchet.

Hideko Turned back into herself and landed in a crouch, facing Warren. She looked back at Hunter, who fell backwards onto his ass. "What just happened?" She asked, but no one answered.

Riko looked from the shocked look on Hunter's face to Warren. "How did you know you weren't going to hurt him?"

Warren turned and started walking away. Softly he told Riko, "I just knew that if I wasn't touching you, it wouldn't hit him." Over his shoulder he called out, "That was good. I know it works now. See you guys in class tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The second day of school, first day of classes.

Warren is sitting in the back of the classroom long before anyone else arrives. He was leaning back, just watching Riko, who was sitting on the desk in front of him. She was humming away and swinging her legs in time with the melody. As the teacher walked in, she noticed Warren sitting in the back and looked up at him with a warm smile and asks, "What brings you to school this early?"

"Just needed a quiet place to think." Warren replied.

"More like you couldn't hold a conversation with me in your dorm room without someone seeing you talking to yourself." Riko chimed in.

The teacher was giving him a warm smile as she turned to write something on the black board. Before she could finish one letter, two more kids walked in. Warren recognized them right away. It was Hunter and Satomi. "Mom, mom. We need to talk before anyone gets here." Satomi said.

"What is it?" The teacher, who was the mother of these two asked. Then she gave Warren a look as Hunter was nudging Satomi's arm to get her attention that they weren't alone.

"Oh… I guess it can wait." Satomi said.

"Alright. Everyone will be here soon. So why don't you pick out some seats."

They picked out seats next to each other while saving spots for their partners. Then Satomi turned and called out, "Hi Warren. Why don't you move down here with us."

"That's ok, I like it back here." Warren replied.

Everyone else slowly filed into the classroom. When Hideko came in, she shot Warren a look and took her seat next to Hunter. The only other person to give him any kind of look, was the other girl that showed up yesterday. Riko noticed it too. "It's like she's never seen something like you before. I think you're going to have competition." Riko let out a laugh as the girl sat down next to Satomi. "The two of them must be partners then. She's the meister and Satomi is the weapon."

Warren studied her orange and black full dress. Her long dark hair came down to her mid back. His eyes meet her light green eyes before she looked away and sat down. "I wonder what her name is."

Riko looked at him. "Maybe there wont be much competition."

"Alright, everyone's accounted for. You all may address me as Maka." And with that, she started her class. The whole time Maka was teaching, she kept thinking to herself, ' **That Warren kid is the only one without a partner. All the kids will notice** **that something is up with him** **in a couple of days** **if he** **doesn't** **find a partner** **. I wonder wh** **y** **h** **e hasn't found anyone yet** **? Maybe I can pull him aside at the end of the class**.' But Maka's kids and their partners took up her time while Warren slipped past them all.

Warren was in the hallway and spoke to Riko in whispers, "I think Maka noticed something. And what happens when we get to weapons training?"

"You'll just have to use me and not worry about it." Riko said with a big grin on her face.

"Mom, what do you think?" Satomi asked Maka.

"Well, first things first. Hunter and Hideko, you two shouldn't be starting fights outside of the school. There is no supervision to over see anything. What if someone got hurt?" Both of the kids hung their heads and muttered apologies. "Second, I don't know anything off hand. I'll talk to Lord Death and see what he knows." All four kids were muttering and started to leave. "Hey!" They all stopped in their tracks. "Maybe you should leave him alone until we find out more information." Maka was shaking her head as the kids left the classroom. ' **I have some time. I'll go** **talk to** **Kid. Could there really be another case like** **Chrona** **? And in the school too**.'

Maka entered Kid Death's chamber and the first thing her eyes fell upon, was a man in a black suite. Even his shirt and tie were black. "Hello Soul." She couldn't keep the smile off her face. "You still look like my papa standing there in that suite."

"I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult." Soul grinned. "What's up?"

"I came to talk with Kid. I have some interesting information."

Kid, who was standing in front of a mirror twice as tall as himself, turned in his black cloak that hid everything except his head. "Nice to see you too, Maka." Kid gave her a slight smile. Maka told them about how her kids took interest in Warren and what they said about the fight. Kid thought it all over, then added, "I'll think it over, but right now, it might not be anything to be concerned about. Keep me up to date if anything changes."

"Alright. This is your first day of weapons training." Black Star said to the class. "To start, I'm going to give you a small demonstration. Hideko, come here please." She walked over to him with a smile. "Normally, it's very difficult to use a weapon that you haven't taken time to match your soul waves together. But in this case, Hideko here is my daughter. Our soul waves have been matched since she was born. Now, Satomi and Kaylee. Please step up over here."

"So that's her name?" Riko said.

"Ladies, weapon forms." Black Star said. Hideko and Satomi both faded away and morphed into their weapons. Black Star was holding Hideko's katana and Kaylee was holding Satomi's weapon. A scythe that looked like a old fashioned scythe with an extra handle on it. One that looked like it would be at home in some farmers field. "Good. Now Kaylee, I want you to just block to the best of your ability." Black Star moved in and thrust the katana out. Kaylee stepped to the side and deflected it. "Remember…" Black star started talking while keeping Kaylee on the defense. "To take into account any special moves the opponent might have. Hideko, smoke bomb mode." Hideko's katana shrunk into a small bomb and Black Star threw it at the ground. Then a flash went off and they were engulfed in smoke. All of a sudden, the scythe went sliding across the floor.

When the smoke cleared, Black Star stood behind Kaylee with the katana in front of her. "Be prepared for the unexpected on any mission." With that, Hideko and Satomi both returned to their normal forms and Black Star moved away from Kaylee. "Nice try there Kaylee. Now, everyone get into groups of four and go though some simple motions. Warren…" Black Star turned and saw that he was already standing there with two hatchets in his hands.

"I'm good to go. You don't have to worry about me." He told Black Star.

' **We have an odd number of students, so where did he find a partner? Maybe Hideko was onto something**.' Black Star was thinking. "Warren, team up with Hunter and Hideko."

"Round two." Hideko said to Warren. "I'll figure out your secret."

"That won't be as easy as you think." Warren shot back. "So how do you have two weapon modes anyways?"

There was no answer, she went into her weapon mode and the blows started. Just small exchanges, since if Hunter or Warren got to rough, Black Star would knock them on the head. After about a half hour of going through motions, Black Star sends them off to their next class. All meisters are to go to one room, and all the weapons go to another room. As Black Star was telling them which rooms to go to, Warren picked that second to let go of Riko.

"What are we going to do Warren?" Riko asked. "I've never moved around this much on my own."

"Just try to shadow Hideko. If you can't do that, meet me where we first met." Warren said as he turned to look out a window. "I think you'll be fine without me."

"Um… Warren?" Kaylee said from behind him. "Satomi said I should accompany you to the next class."

"I guess that's ok." Warren answered her.

"What good is it? Splitting up teams. It's so not cool. We should learn it all together, that way we understand each other better." Hunter was saying as he walked up to Warren and Kaylee.

Looking back at Warren, Riko called out to him, "Maybe you'll make some friends."

And with a chuckle, Warren looks between the other two meisters and asks, "So what's the deal with you guys?"

Kaylee looked down at her hands and started to fidget with her blouse, while Hunter looked at Warren and said, "Well, Satomi and I are twins. Both our parents and Hideko's parents, went to school here and now work here. You've meet our mom, Maka. Our dad is Soul, he's Lord Death's death scythe. As for Kaylee here, well… It will take some time for her to open up to you. She's shy." As he finished, Kaylee was turning red.

"We should get going." Kaylee was clearly trying to change the subject.

"You're right, but what kind of class is it? I still don't know why they split us up." Hunter said as the three of them headed off.

"Hey Hideko. Wait up. You're going too fast." Satomi was jogging to catch up. As Riko was keeping pace with them, Hideko all of a sudden came to a complete stop. Satomi ran into her back. "What are you doing now?"

"Doesn't he just bug you? There's something not right about him. Even my dad was surprised when the weapons just showed up in his hands."

"Hideko. Maybe you're just over thinking things?"

"No! Our parents think something is up too."

"They haven't said anything. They just listened to what we had to say."

"Aren't you worried that something is wrong?" With that, Hideko started walking again, but at a slower place.

"No, we haven't seen anything wrong at all. I actually think it's kind of sad that he's all alone." Satomi looked away from Hideko.

"It's his fault for being so weird."

"Hideko? You're taking this a bit too far! We should let our parents look into it."

"Our parents won't tell us anything, even if there is something to tell. And besides that, who sounds like their mom now?" Satomi looked shocked. Hideko looked her in the eyes, but Satomi couldn't meet them. "What did you do?"

"I… Uh… I asked Kaylee to talk to him before we split up."

"Why would you do that? Kaylee can't talk to anyone until she knows them for a long time." Hideko let out a laugh as they entered the next class room. "And I thought you would have got your brother involved."

Riko watched Satomi's face go to a look of shame, but Hideko never saw it. ' **So, she did ask him too. Well, that's quite interesting. I think we could have been really good friends if I was alive**.' Riko thought to herself since no one could hear her anyways.

Later, Riko found herself tucked into a corner of the schools walls. She was near the place that she had first meet Warren. The sun was already setting, and with each passing moment, Riko sunk farther into a depression. ' **How long has it been now? Did he leave me here? Those girls think he's crazy already. Maybe they got him to realize he needed a real partner. I wouldn't blame him at all for leaving. I just thought, maybe, just maybe, it might be my chance to move on. Was this all just a dream I had?** ' A quick glance at the sky showed her the sun sinking below the horizon faster then she could remember seeing it do before. ' **How long has it been**?'

"Riko!" Came a loud whisper. "Where are you?"

Riko blinked her eyes open in shock. ' **He's back. He didn't forget about me**.' She rose from the shadows and ran out to meet Warren with a big smile on her face.

"Why were you hiding over there in the shadows?"

"I thought you forgot about me and found a real partner."

"What would make you think that? We were only separated for a couple of hours tops."

She looked down at the ground while speaking, "Is that all it was? It felt like years."

"Remember, I chose you to be my partner. I found you when no one else did. I'm not going to leave you at all."

Riko was so happy that she went to hug Warren, but stopped short of touching him. "Hideko thinks there's something wrong with you. Satomi isn't sure. She asked the other two to talk to you. They wanted to find out more about you."

"I know." Warren smiled and looked out over the balcony at the setting sun. "I don't know why they are so interested in me." He looked back at her. "So what was your class about?"

"Oh, well… I didn't stay long. This Tsubaki lady was testing to see if any of the weapons could learn multiple forms. She had to look them over, so I came out here."

"I guess she wouldn't be able to look you over. My class was them trying to teach us to see souls. I think I need a lot more classes, but I was getting the hang of how to do it. Let's go for a walk before we go back to the dorm."

Riko smiled at Warren. ' **Please let him bring my curse to an end**.' Then she answered, "Ok."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Death the Kid stands in his chamber looking around at the others. Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty. "I've talked with Maba-Dono and Stein, they say there hasn't been any reports of anything out of the ordinary. If this is another incident involving some kind of experiment like the black blood all those years ago with Medusa. They say we shouldn't waste time to find out. So the first step in this plan is, I want Maka to view Warren's soul tomorrow and compare it to when you saw Chrona's soul. Soul, I need you to go to the boys dorm and make sure Warren isn't slipping out of town to report anything to anyone. Report back to me If anything looks suspicious." Soul nodded to Kid and turned to leave.

"Kid, I should go with Soul." Maka said as she looked Soul in the eyes.

"He'll be fine Maka. We don't even know if there is a problem." Tsubaki reassured her as Soul left the room.

"And since Soul will be on night watch, Liz and Patty. You two will stay by my side. In a worst case scenario, I'll need the two of you, if something were to happen. Black Star, I'll get word to you after Maka views his soul. If something is wrong, don't let the other students get involved. Keep Warren distracted. Tsubaki, I need you to try to take Hideko out of the picture. She's a hand full all on her own. Just like Black Star."

"She's my daughter after all. I wouldn't expect anything less." Black Star spoke up.

"Understood." Tsubaki answered, but was thinking to herself, ' **Hideko, please don't go doing anything foolish. You're too much like your father**.'

"Hideko was born into greatness." Black Star was smiling. It brought a smile to Tsubaki's face too.

"Alright. If it comes down to it, I'll take Warren on myself. Until tomorrow everyone. Good night." Kid finished.

When Tsubaki got home after the meeting with Kid, she went through some normal routine things while Black Star headed to bed. She was passing her daughters room as she thought to herself, ' **Wasn't it enough that we got dragged into a mess when we were at school? Why does this have to happen to our kids? I should check in on Hideko**.' She knocked on the door, but no answer. ' **She must be asleep already**.' Tsubaki cracked the door open and looked in. ' **All curled up in bed. Please don't overdo things Hideko**.' With a shake of her head, Tsubaki closed the door and headed to bed. Black Star was sitting on the bed waiting for her. "Do you think the kids got themselves mixed up in something? I would hate to see them go through something like we did."

"Even if they did, they'll be fine. We pulled through everything that was thrown at us. Besides, they have Hideko, the daughter of the great Black Star." He smiled at her. "Stop worrying about it and come to bed." He held his hand out. Tsubaki took it and he pulled her onto the bed.

Outside of the boy's dorm, a figure lies in the bushes, ' **Laws of the assassin number one. Conceal yourself in the darkness. Still your breath. Seek a path to your target.** ' Hideko was reciting to herself as she moved through the bushes because she noticed a figure standing out on the street keeping a watchful eye on the dorm. She thought it was Hunter's father, Soul. She made her way on her belly staying hidden behind the bushes until she got into position under the window she wanted.

' **Laws of the assassin number two. Know your target. Be able to guess his thoughts, his movements.** ' She was thinking as she climbed up the side of the building to get to Warren's window. She had to wait until the figure on the road was looking away. ' **Why was he there anyways?** ' She reached the window and found that it wasn't locked.

' **Laws of assassin number three.'** Hideko opened the window and slowly moved in. ' **Defeat your target before they become aware of your existence**.' She moved over to the bed and made sure she had the right target. And with that, she jumped on top of Warren, covering his mouth.

Meanwhile, Riko was laying on the bed next to Warren lost in thought because she doesn't really sleep. Just as she was thinking to herself and watching him sleep, a click sound broke her train of thought. She sat up as the window slowly swung open. As she was wondering what was going on. A figure slipped into the room. "Warren! Wake up!" She yelled out as the figure jumped onto the sleeping Warren.

Between Riko yelling at him and someone jumping on his bed and covering his mouth, Warren was woken up and trying to move. The figure grabbed his right arm, holding it behind him as their other hand was covering his mouth before he could make noise. "Are you wide awake yet?" The voice whispered into his ear. Warren recognized Hideko's voice and nodded. "Good. Be quiet and come with me."

When she slowly let him go, he was able to ask, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Keep it quiet. I want to talk with you one on one. So get up."

"First you'll have to get off me."

She let out a chuckle, then slowly slid off of him. "Let's go now."

Warren sat up with a bit of a grin on his face. "Why couldn't this wait till tomorrow morning?"

Riko was looking between the two of them. "You liked that, didn't you?"

Warren gave her a shrug while Hideko answered him from the window. "Because I think it is the only way to get you to talk. If I get you alone, you might actually tell me something when no one else is around to hear you."

Warren stood up and was only in boxers. "Trying to give her a show now?" Riko asked. Warren shot her a dirty look and she started laughing as he put on pants and a shirt.

"Right… Because this is so funny?"

"What?" Hideko poked her head back into the window and arched a eyebrow at him. A very confused look crossed her face.

"Nothing. I'm coming. Let's go." He shot Riko another look and she started to laugh harder than before.

Soul picked a spot across the street from the dorm. For a few hours, nothing happened. As boredom was kicking in more and more, Soul thought he saw a shadow move up the wall to the window. ' **Great, now I'm seeing things. Just when I'm thinking nothing will happen, my minds playing tricks on me.** ' Another flicker of movement got Soul to lock his eyes on the window. ' **Wasn't it closed a moment ago?** ' One figure jumped down to the ground, then a second. ' **Crap! What the hell is going on?'** Then Soul took off after the two forms. After a few turns and going over a few buildings, they lost Soul. ' **I'm getting to old aren't I? This can't be a good thing. I need to go tell Kid right away.** '

"What the hell is going on with you? Why are you being followed?" Hideko was questioning Warren in a alley way behind the school.

"Me? Why not you? Your the one sneaking around at night." Warren bit back.

"This is getting exciting." Riko said as she picked a spot to sit and watch them.

"No one followed me to the dorm, so they had to be watching you." Hideko leaned back against the wall. She shook her head then said, "I was just trying to find out what your deal was. You come to school, I see you talking to yourself, you have no partner after everyone's picked one. Most normal people would have asked a teacher what to do. But for some reason, you don't care and you manage to pull a weapon from thin air. Give it a few more days and everyone in school will know something is up with you. You can't hide forever in the background. You'll need someone on your side."

"She has a point you know." Riko added in. "So what are you going to say? Tell her the truth, or push her away?"

Warren let out a laugh. "For starters, you wouldn't believe me at all." Warren leaned against the opposite wall.

"Try me." Hideko was watching Warren like a hawk.

"I was wondering why you took a interest in me from the start." Warren closed his eyes and let out a big sigh. "If I was in your place, listening to me, I wouldn't believe it. And it sounds worse if I say it out loud. Like I said, I have a partner." And before he could say another word, they were interrupted by a explosion. "What the hell was that?"

Just then, a man fell from the sky about twenty yards or so from them. He landed in a crouch while holding a sledge hammer across his shoulders. He slowly stood and rolled his head and shoulders to loosen up from his landing. His eyes landed on Warren and Hideko. "Damn it Leal. I thought you said no one would be back here."

"There was no one here a minute ago when I checked." The answer came from the sledge hammer that the guy had leaning on his right shoulder. "So what are you going to do now? You know we're not supposed to be seen."

"I know. And they look like such a nice young couple."

"Hey!" Hideko said.

"Wrong spot, wrong time. No hard feelings." The guy said, then broke out into a full sprint and headed right toward Warren while swinging the sledge hammer. Riko morphed into her hatchets for Warren in time for him to catch the hammer with both axes. However, the swing was so powerful that it drove Warren back across the ground and slamming him hard into the wall behind him. "Not bad kid. You could have had some real potential. But I need to finish this quick." He said as Warren crumpled to the ground. He brought the sledge hammer up over his head and came down on Warren as Hideko rushed in. She grabbed Warren and pulled him to the side. The shock wave from the impact sent them both flying to the ground. Warren dropped Riko when he hit and she changed back. "Just stay still and make this easy for yourselves."

"Warren, use my smoke bomb mode." She was morphing before he could say anything. Hideko's bomb appeared in his right hand. It felt like it weighed a ton. It was hard just to move it and bring it down on the ground to have it go off. Smoke covered the entire alley way. Hideko returned to normal, then helped Warren to his feet and they started running. They took the first turn that came along then the next. There was a open door and they slipped into a storage shed. Warren crumpled to the ground in pain while Hideko pulled the door shut behind them and started looking for a way to lock the door. "Warren, are you alright?" She found a rope that she tied to the door handle and then found a place on the opposite wall to tie it down. "If he tries the door, maybe he'll think it's locked."

"I'll be fine after a couple of minutes. He knocked the wind out of me." Warren winced in pain as he tried to move. "Might have a broken rib."

"I need to get you to my mom. She'll know what to do."

"Hey! He's coming your way!" Riko shouted from outside.

"Not yet. Be quite, he's coming." Warren warned Hideko.

A bang from outside made Hideko freeze in place. "What kind of trick did those two pull? We lost them." the meister said.

"Our lady is going to be pissed at you." Leal, the weapon said.

"I know. But who could have seen that happening? Two kids wandering around that happen to have a smoke bomb. What are the odds? They should both be dead right now."

"We killed too much time. We need to go now before someone else sees us."

"Alright." That was the last noise they heard. Warren passed out and Hideko sat huddled on the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Warren woke up in a bed, with Riko leaning across the bed and starring straight down at his face. "Good morning." She said as a smile split her face. "I'm glad your still alive."

"Riko? Where are we?"

"Who is Riko?" Riko and Warren both looked over to see a lady standing at the side of the bed. Her long black pony tail reminded them of Hideko. When she looked up from the paperwork in her hands, they could see the family resemblance "And we are in the school's hospital."

"Oh, no one. I was… Um… Dreaming."

"I'm no one, huh?" Riko put her hands on her hips and looked away from them. "I'll remember that." Warren glanced at her with an apologetic look. "You didn't have to say it like that." Riko relaxed again.

"Hideko said your Warren, right?" He nodded. "I'm her mom, Tsubaki. Your going to be sore for a few days, so no more sneaking around. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah. There was an explosion, then this meister showed up. He was going to kill us. If it wasn't for Hideko, we would be dead."

"Most of the teachers are trying to find out what happened last night, so I'm sure there will be a few people who want to talk with the two of you. For now, relax and don't worry. You don't have anything broken, but you've got some heavy bruises." She was shaking her head as she walked away.

"I guess I'll live, huh." Warren looked at Riko.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, your giving me more excitement then I've ever seen." Riko laughed at him.

Death the Kid stands over the half destroyed building in his cloak and mask. "Patty, go see if Liz found anything yet."

"Ooooh Kay." Patty walked away leaving Kid standing there with Soul.

"Man, this has been a long night." Soul was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Soul. Your sure you didn't get a better look at the person who went out with Warren?"

"No. They were headed in this direction when I lost them. I wish I had more information for you."

Kid nodded. "Well, I was informed that Warren has been brought into the school. He's currently in a hospital bed. Somehow, he managed to get injured last night and the other person with him, is no where to be found. And to add another twist, he was found only a couple of blocks from here. When we're done here, I'll be paying him a visit. Oh Soul… Go get some sleep before you fall over."

As Soul left, Liz and Patty walked up. "Hey, Kid." Liz said. "No one has come to any conclusion as to why this building was blown up. It's an empty warehouse to a store down the block. They just bought it a couple of weeks ago. And there hasn't been any kind of suspicious… Well, anything."

"Then that's the question we need to answer. Why blow up a empty building?" Kid turned to look at the school.

Maka was standing out side of the school's hospital wing, stopping anyone who might try to get in. Black Star walked up to her and asked, "Any news yet?"

"Tsubaki hasn't said anything yet. Can you keep watch for a minute. I'll go in and see if anythings changed." He nodded and Maka stepped into the room. "Tsubaki."

"Ah, Maka. Come on in." They shared a look. "He's finally awake."

Maka walked over to Warren. "Warren right? Do you remember who I am?" He nodded. "May I ask you some questions?" He nodded again. "Good. First, where you at the explosion site?" Warren shook his head. "Alright, you were found in the area and injured. Do you know what happened?" Again, Warren shook his head in a no. "Do you have any idea who might have been involved?" Another no. "Why did you go out there and what happened to you?"

Warren saw the look on Tsubaki's face behind Maka. So he told her almost everything. Instead of Hideko's name, he used Riko's. He told her that they were out when the explosion went off, how the meister attacked, and how they escaped. Leaving out the smoke bomb and filling it in with more running and lucky turns. As Warren was giving her full details about what happened, Maka opened her senses to view Warren's soul. His Soul itself was a lonely soul, but strong. Along with that, there was magic involved with his soul. It looked like a black string tied around it. As she looked closer at the string, it led away from his soul. As she followed it, it flowed out of his body and stopped to hover next to him. The end that was floating in mid air, was tied around another soul. This one was almost invisible. If the black string wasn't there, she would have never seen the soul floating there. These two souls were bound by this magic. ' **What is this**?' Maka was thinking. ' **I've never seen anything like this. What kind of magic could do this**?'

Warren saw her eyes widened and asked her, "Is there something wrong?" He followed her gaze to Riko. ' **Does she see Riko**?' He thought.

"Warren, I have one last question for you? Have you ever meet a witch before?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Maka left without saying anything else except her goodbyes.

After she was gone, Tsubaki said, "Thank you. I would like to ask my daughter a few questions first."

Riko looked down at Warren and said, "For a minute, I thought she could see me too. But if she couldn't see me, what was she looking at?"

"Hideko, what's wrong?" Satomi asked her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Maybe she confessed her love for someone and got turned down." Kaylee added.

"What? Hideko wouldn't do that." Both Satomi and Kaylee turned to look at Hunter. "What?"

"I'm done." Hideko looked even more depressed and got all three of them to turn back to her. "Somehow, I made things worse."

"What are you talking about?" Satomi asked.

"I went to see Warren last night." Hideko said.

"Why would you do that?" Hunter sounded a bit angry when he asked. Again Satomi and Kaylee shot him a look. "What is it with you two?" Both girls shook their heads at him.

"We weren't very far away from the explosion. Then some meister came out of nowhere and was going to kill us." The other three fell silent. "Warren got hurt and I left him there."

"Hideko, why would you do that?" Satomi asked.

"I didn't know what to do. I got him help, but I left him." Satomi put a arm around her. "I went to go see him, but your mom was standing outside. I don't think it would have been good to try to see him."

"We can send Kaylee in there to spy." Hunter suggested.

They all turned to look at Kaylee. "Why me?" She moaned.

Maka caught Kid on his way back into the school. "Kid, I need to speak with you." After a short walk, the two of them entered into Death's chamber. "I went and viewed Warren's soul." Liz, Patty, and Black Star walked in after them. Maka continued, "His soul has been intertwined with another soul. There's defiantly magic involved, but there's no way to tell who put it there. The strangest part is, I could just barley see the second soul. But it was floating by his side, as if the person was there. I've never seen anything like it before. Normal magic stays on the soul, but I've never heard of seeing the connection to another soul without seeing the other person in the same room. It's unheard of… I don't know what it means."

"So we now know magic is involved somehow with Warren. But we still have no details or clues as to whether or not Warren's involved with what's happening out there. Maka, did you ask him about what happened?" Kid seemed to be deep in thought, but gave Maka his full attention.

"Of course. And unless he was lying to me, he doesn't know anything."

"Alright, before I talk to him myself, I want Angela to go look him over. Maybe we can get some answers from her." Kid said. "Maka, will you go get Angela and introduce her to Warren. Explain everything to her before hand."

Maka nodded. "Will do." Maka left the chamber to go get the witch Angela.

Angela had a few run ins with Black Star when she was a kid. He was the reason that the school took her in when she was a kid and shes now currently helping to change the way of the DWMA. Changes for how the DWMA looks at the witches they hunt down. The DWMA is now working with witches to find the witches who have gone evil, instead of any and all witches being on Death's list. They carefully choose who makes it on Death's list. Maka her self has a very open mind about working with the the witches. She became great friends with another one of the first witches that came to the school. So when Maka entered the lab in which Angela worked, they shared a friendly greeting before she was filled in on what was going on.

Tsubaki looked up from her desk and greeted Maka and Angela. "Hello you two. He's sleeping at the moment."

Maka opened her sight and saw the floating soul move from were someone would have been sitting next to him, to were someone was standing next to him. "Nothings changed." Maka was confused by what see saw. It was like there was someone there that they couldn't see.

Riko was looking between Maka, Angela, and Tusbaki. ' **What should I do? Should I wake him up? What's she doing**?'

Angela stood next to the bed and put her hands out over Warren. Her hands hovered over Warren and had a slight glow to them. Angela started whispering to herself, so quiet that you could only hear a word here and there. Maka kept her sight opened, but didn't see any changes happening. Angela stayed like that for almost twenty minutes before her hands lost the glow. She put her hands down and shook her head. "This magic spell, was not cast on him."

Riko tilted her head and said out loud, "Of course not. It was cast on me." She knew no one would hear her, but couldn't help trying to talk to them.

Maka was so confused that all she could say was, "What?" She looked at Warren for a long moment. "That doesn't make any sense. Someone had to cast it on him."

"Maka, if you say there's another soul attached to his, that's where the magic comes from. For some reason, that magic was drawn to him and attached itself onto him." Angela looked back at Warren then added. "This is old magic. I don't know much about it."

Tusbaki asked, "Is there anyone who would know?"

"Yes, but not anyone good."


End file.
